


So That's Why You Left

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Canon Ace Character, First Kiss, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Jon actually apologizes for his earlier behavior, M/M, Martin is so precious, Set in Season 3, not a lot of angst though, that skin comment definitely sounded more like trauma than flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21733147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Just some Jon/Martin fluff after Martin finds out that Jon was kidnapped for an entire month.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Comments: 30
Kudos: 557





	So That's Why You Left

Martin hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, honestly he hadn’t. He’d just been passing by, when he heard what sounded like Jon’s voice, and he couldn’t stop himself from just freezing in place outside of Elias’ office. He had to make sure that he wasn’t just hallucinating because he missed Jon so much.

Then he heard Jon say that he’d been kidnapped, and Melanie just seemed to brush that aside without even caring, so Martin had to go in. Just as soon as he could force his feet to move him forward. He felt like a complete idiot, though, because he couldn’t even think of anything to say that would really sum up how glad he was to have Jon back, so he just stayed awkwardly out in the hall.

When Melanie stormed out of the office, she didn’t even see Martin as she slammed the door shut behind her. He knew that now would be a good time to make some kind of noise to indicate his presence (though thinking about it, he was sure that Elias had to know that he was there). 

But Jon and Elias spoke quietly enough that Martin couldn’t really make out anything that was being said. He waited until Jon emerged from the office, and then hurried to catch up with him. “Jon!”

Jon glanced back out of reflex, and then stopped and actually turned around to face Martin. Now that they were face to face, Martin could see how utterly exhausted Jon looked. Martin had to resist the urge to just bundle Jon up in a blanket and carry him off to somewhere he’d be safe forever. “Oh, hello Martin.” His voice came out sounding dull, and Martin found that he almost missed the animosity that always used to be there. At least it was better than there just being nothing. “How have you been?”

“Were you really kidnapped?”

Jon didn’t even act surprised by the question. Maybe he’d known that Martin eavesdropped, or maybe he just didn’t care. “Yeah. It was, uh, it was Nikola Orsinov.” He glanced down at his bare arms for a moment before looking back up at Martin. “It was uh… anyways, how have you been?” he repeated.

Martin just stared. Clearly Jon was not okay, though Martin had no idea what he could actually do to make things better. He just naturally wanted to take care of everyone, but especially Jon. “Maybe you could do with a hot cup of tea.” 

There was a pause, and then Jon heaved out a long sigh. “Yeah. Yeah, that might be nice. But I don’t think- I’m not sure that I want to stay here. At least not right now. I just have to- to actually make it back, and-”

“I can bring you to my place, if you want,” Martin suggested before he could stop himself. He immediately felt his face start to turn red, but he didn’t take back the offer. “It’s just that I know that it can be comforting to be around other people. I know after those three weeks when I was trapped in my flat, I was glad to be able to stay here and be around you- you guys.” 

From the look on Jon’s face, it was clear that he’d all but forgotten about Jane Prentiss. And how terrible was it that so much had happened since then that Jon could forget about someone who’d nearly killed him, and who had permanently scarred him? Then again, Jon had a lot of new scars now, between the burn on his hand and the so-called bread knife accident on his arm, and the haunted look in his eyes. “Martin you don’t have to-”

“I want to,” he interrupted. “That is, if you want to,” he added in a smaller voice.

There was another brief pause, and then Jon offered Martin a small but genuine smile. “In that case, I would appreciate it. Do you need to get anything, or-?”

Martin shook his head. “I wasn’t in the middle of any particularly urgent research. And I don’t exactly care about telling my boss when I’m taking off early for the day. What’s he going to do, dock my pay?” He felt a sense of victory when Jon smiled again. 

They headed out to the parking lot, and Martin tried not to think about why the parking spot reserved for the Head Archivist was empty. Maybe if Jon felt up to it, he could talk about how he’d escaped from the circus. For now, though, they both just got into Martin’s car in silence, and Martin headed back to his flat. He’d moved after being held under siege by Prentiss, but his new place wasn’t any nicer than the old one, and he felt somewhat embarrassed by the bit of mess that was lying around. It’s not as though keeping everything neat had been a real priority lately, and he was sure that Jon didn’t care, but even so. 

As Jon settled down on the ratty couch, Martin stepped into the kitchen to fill the kettle and set it down on the stove. “How do you like it?” Martin already knew the answer to that, because he’d been making Jon tea for the past couple of years, but it felt like the kind of thing he was supposed to ask anyways.

“Just a touch of sugar, please.” Martin hesitated as he set two mugs down on the counter. Either Jon’s tea preferences had changed, or- or he’d been drinking tea he didn’t even like for the past couple of years. 

When the tea was done, he carried the mugs out into the living room, and handed one to Jon. He tried to beat down the thought that when he’d imagined Jon being in his home, it had always been under different circumstances. They both sipped at their tea quietly for a few minutes, but it wasn’t an awkward silence.

But Martin wasn’t used to being quiet for so long when he was around another person, and he found himself talking before he could really stop himself. “I’m so sorry, Jon. Elias didn’t tell us that you’d been kidnapped. If you had, then I swear I would have looked for you.”

The way that Jon’s eyes widened in surprise hurt. Not because Martin thought that Jon didn’t believe in him, but because Jon clearly didn’t expect anyone to come for him. Martin wished that Jon didn’t have so much reason to not bother expecting a rescue. “It’s- it’s alright.”

Martin gave Jon a doubtful look, but didn’t try to argue. “Did she- were you hurt?”

The very long pause and vacant stare as Jon got lost in a memory seemed rather telling, but then Jon shook his head. “No, no I’m alright. If anything, my skin is in better condition than… ever. Is that a weird thing to say?”

Based on the previous statements they’d seen about Orsinov and the circus, Martin could take an educated guess about why Jon’s skin might be in better condition, and he grit his teeth as he took a few deep breaths. He was so angry, but not at Jon, of course not at Jon. He was angry at the ones who had kidnapped Jon, and who clearly had done things to harm him, even if they hadn’t caused any physical injuries. And Martin was angry at whoever had led Jon to believe that being emotionally traumatized wasn’t harmful. And he was angry at Elias for not telling anyone that Jon had been kidnapped. And he was angry at himself for not just knowing. 

But he knew that Jon needed levity at the moment, so he answered with a light, “A bit.”

Jon gave Martin a searching look, and then leaned back, looking slightly more relaxed than he had a minute ago. “It’s all she ever talked about,” he said quietly.

Martin reached out to rest his hand on top of Jon’s without even thinking. As soon as he realized what he’d done, he was ready to yank his hand back, but then it occurred to him that Jon hadn’t pulled away. Maybe he just hadn’t noticed? But Martin decided that he’d leave his hand there unless Jon indicated that he didn’t like it. Martin needed some comfort too, afterall. His- well Jon had been kidnapped. “How long?” he suddenly thought to ask. “I mean, you weren’t really around a lot anyways, so I don’t know how long you were actually…”

Jon gulped. “A month.”

Martin’s eyes widened, and he shifted his fingers so that he was lightly squeezing Jon’s hand, like it served as proof that Jon was alive and safe in front of him. “A month?” he repeated in a strangled voice. “Jon, I am so so-”

“It isn’t your fault,” Jon said softly. “Tell me how everyone else has been. Please.”

Martin was pretty sure that there was still a lot left to address in regards to the kidnapping, but he wasn’t going to push Jon to talk about it until he was ready. So he took a deep breath, and then started giving short summaries of how everyone at the archives was doing.

As Martin spoke, Jon flipped his hand in such a smooth motion that Martin almost didn’t notice, and then he laced their fingers together. Martin stumbled over his words, and was rewarded with a beautiful smile from Jon. “I, uh, Jon?” He knew that he sounded like an idiot, but he had no idea what was going on.

“Do you know how I made it through that month, Martin?” Martin just nodded, mouth too dry for him to formulate any proper words. “I just kept thinking about how I needed to see you at least one more time. I needed to tell you that I’m so sorry for how I treated you in the beginning; and that I’m so grateful to have you in my life; and that objectively speaking, you’re one of the most attractive people I’ve ever met.” Then he squeezed his eyes shut, like he was afraid to look at Martin.

It took a couple of seconds for Martin’s brain to reboot after that confession, and then he found himself scooting a little bit closer to Jon. “Do you really mean all of that?” Jon nodded, eyes still closed, and Martin felt a fond smile stretch across his face. “Well there’s something I need to tell you too. I’ve been in love with you for pretty much ever.”

Jon’s cheeks immediately darkened, and he cracked his eyes open. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh,” Jon’s voice came out with a bit of a squeak. “Well you should probably know that I’m not- I don’t-”

“I know,” Martin interrupted softly when it was clear that the words were difficult for Jon to get out.

Jon opened his eyes the rest of the way to just stare at Martin in disbelief. “And you don’t care?”

Martin shook his head. “You’re more important to me than any of the, uh, _perks_ of a- a relationship. Or- I don’t know why I said that. You never said anything about a relationship and I just-”

He was cut off by a gentle kiss being pressed against his lips. When Jon pulled back, his blush had somehow gotten even darker. “Was that okay?”

“More than. If- if it was okay with you.”

Jon gave him a smile that seemed to light up the entire dingy little room. “I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t okay with it.” Then he gave Martin’s hand a light squeeze. “I’m exhausted. Do you have a place I could crash?”

Martin blinked once, then nodded in the direction of the bedroom. “You can just take the bed.”

“Will you be in it?”

Martin knew that his face had to be as red as an apple at this point. “You- uh- but- we just- you said-”

Jon rolled his eyes. “To sleep, Martin. Get your mind out of the gutter.” Then he stood up, and gently pulled Martin to his feet as well so that they could head to the bedroom. And Martin didn’t even care that it was only three in the afternoon and far too early for him to sleep. He certainly wasn’t going to turn down an opportunity to just hold Jon, and pretend for a moment like everything was alright.


End file.
